Now, to the seattle couple who discovered a burglar in their home, while they were on vacation hundreds of miles away. It's thanks to the miracles of modern technology, which makes it easier to catch a thief. Abc's neal karlinsky has the story. Reporter: You might call this candid camera burglar edition. The real burglar not only doesn't know he's on camera, he doesn't know this nifty home camera system is sending a text message straight to the home's owner. The first thing I thought was, is this really real? He's so kind of stereotypical, like something you would see in a comedy or something, with the black pants and black jacket and the black face mask. It took me a minute to say this is really happening. Reporter: Melissa, she didn't want her last name used, and her husband, were on vacation in idaho, when her cell phone alerted her that the motion-sensitive cameras she set up to keep an eye on her dogs, were capturing something else. Moving in the house. She clicked on the app and saw this video live. He was coming back into the garage and had his shopping bags full of our stuff. And was looking to see if there's anything else you can get. I immediately called my neighbor and said, don't go over, there's someone in my house. Reporter: The neighbor called 911. A real-time high-tech bust. The way this really helps us is that that burglary in progress, it's happening. It's fluid. It's right now. The person is still in there. May not even know. The bad guy is still in the house may not know we're in route. Reporter: In the end, the masked intruder got away, but not before dropping everything he had taken. And putting his mug front and center on camera. So, the police can pay him a visit. For "good morning america," neal karlinsky, abc news, seattle.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

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